The series, directed by Burns and Lynn Novick, cost more than $30 million and took over 10 years to produce. The first episode aired in September and it has been widely acclaimed for bringing a new perspective to the conflict, which ended in 1975.

A 1990 first edition of The Things They Carried

The documentary uses numerous interviews with ordinary combatants from both sides. Tim O’Brien, who served in Vietnam in the 23rd Infantry Division, is one of the interviewees. The Things They Carried is a collection of connected short stories about a platoon of American soldiers. Usually classified as fiction, The Things They Carried blurs the lines between fiction and non-fiction. O’Brien includes himself as a protagonist and some of the narrative is semi-autobiographical.

The Things They Carried tackles numerous themes from platoon camaraderie to family ties, religion and death. There are stories describing events before, during and after the war.

According to news reports, the PBS premiere of The Vietnam War attracted an audience of 9.6 million viewers, which made it PBS’ most popular show since the series finale of Downton Abbey in March 2016

Donald Trump’s on-going clashes with Senator John McCain, a former US air force pilot and Vietnam POW, may also have contributed to demand for The Things They Carried. In 2015, Trump said about McCain, “He’s not a war hero, I like people that weren’t captured.” McClain repeatedly opposed Trump initiatives in 2017 and revealed Trump had never apologized for his 2015 remarks. Trump, who visited Vietnam in October, received five deferments, according to the New York Times, from serving in the Vietnam War.

The top 20 bestselling books on AbeBooks in 2017 also includes The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, which enjoyed a revival following a TV adaption in 2017, and three more war-themed books in Night, Catch-22, and All Quiet on the Western Front. The Boys in the Boat by Daniel James Brown, first published in 2013, also saw a revival thanks to PBS, which aired a documentary based on Brown’s rowing book in August.